Nov 4th 2023

Too good to be true: The contradiction at the heart of the world economy

The world this week

Leaders

Too good to be true

The world economy is defying gravity. That cannot last

Threats abound, including higher-for-longer interest rates

The Middle East

Why Israel must fight on

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is taking a terrible toll. But unless Hamas’s power is broken, peace will remain out of reach

Trade wars: episode II

Trump’s tariff plans would be disastrous for America and the world

You may think his worst ideas won’t get far. Sadly, on trade he has been singularly influential

Lead poisoning

How to stop turmeric from killing people

Developing countries—especially India—should learn from Bangladesh

Coming of age

Why the rules on embryo experiments should be loosened

Lifting the 14-day rule would help researchers understand how organs develop

Trials and errors

Britain’s prisons show up wider flaws in government

The entire criminal-justice system is under strain

Letters

On donating organs, mental health, the Sagrada Família basilica, film lengths, James Bond, “Star Trek”

Letters to the editor

By Invitation

The war in Ukraine

The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces on how to win the war

War in the Middle East

Steven Simon thinks that Israel may be able to avoid a regional escalation

War and law

Marc Weller on what international law has to say about the Israel-Hamas conflict

Briefing

Higher for longer

Markets think interest rates could stay high for a decade or more

The economic consequences could be grim

Asia

Asia’s dirty money

Singapore’s biggest money-laundering case has links to Chinese gamblers

Save our ghouls

A Tokyo district cracks down on Halloween

Death by turmeric

Bangladesh strikes a blow against lead poisoning

Choking a city

Politics hampers Delhi’s fight against air pollution

Banyan

Narendra Modi has shifted India from the Palestinians to Israel

China

One leader, two philosophies

Xi Jinping is trying to fuse the ideologies of Marx and Confucius

Progress on one front

China and Bhutan aim to resolve a long-running border dispute

New tactics

How China’s delivery drivers quietly fight to improve their lot

Chaguan

Why Chinese mourn Li Keqiang, their former prime minister

United States

Cut chemists

A tax-cutting wave is sweeping over America’s states

The other derby

Why Kentucky’s Democratic governor is heading for re-election

All shook up

Can a Presley win Mississippi?

Medicine’s gilded age

Why doctors in America earn so much

Crime and governance

Why is America’s capital so violent?

Lexington

The Gaza war could help set speech free again

Middle East & Africa

Darkening days

The pace of Israel’s war in Gaza far exceeds previous conflicts

Civilians and the ground invasion

Why urban warfare in Gaza will be bloodier than in Iraq

The day after

Is a two-state solution possible after the Gaza war?

AGOA and out

America suspends duty-free access to four African countries

Firebranding

How the red beret became Africa’s most political hat

Ports in a storm

Ethiopia’s prime minister wants a Red Sea harbour

The Americas

The new narco network

Gang violence is spreading across Latin America

Paradise lost?

Costa Rica no longer seems a Latin American success story

Dashed dreams of democracy

Venezuela’s Supreme Court tests President Joe Biden

Oh no, Canada

Canadians are starting to sour on migration

Europe

War of attrition

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief on the breakthrough he needs to beat Russia

Don’t look up

Trenches and tech on Ukraine’s southern front

The fracturing French left

The Middle East crisis is splitting the French opposition

Fear spurs the Poles

Beefing up Poland’s armed forces

Britain

Wasted time

The blight of Britain’s prisons

I swear, your honour. A lot

The covid-19 inquiry exposes chaos in Boris Johnson’s government

Introducing the VHS

How the rapid growth of virtual wards is helping the NHS

Sex and horses

The genius of Jilly Cooper, queen of British bonkbusters

Classroom war

Do Labour’s plans for Britain’s private schools make sense?

Bagehot

Labour’s screw-ups reveal how the party will govern Britain

International

Views of the Middle East

The culture war over the Gaza war

Social media are not real life

Israel is more popular than social-media posts suggest

Business

Heady, with headaches

America’s economy is booming. Why aren’t its bosses happier?

Plastic surgery

OMV, Austria’s energy major, reimagines its future

Bartleby

How to get the lying out of hiring

Bangs for bucks

Can America’s weapons-makers adapt to 21st-century warfare?

Holding pattern

Can Israeli-Emirati business ties survive the Gaza war?

Schumpeter

Chinese apps are a mixed blessing for American big tech

Finance & economics

Tariff Man Part Two

Donald Trump’s second term would be a protectionist nightmare

The joy of competition

American banks now offer customers a better deal

Buttonwood

What a third world war would mean for investors

The tail that wags

Investors are paying close attention to the world’s safest assets

Indestructible

China’s economy is a mess. Why aren’t firms going under?

Frightening

How Japan poses a threat to the global financial system

Free exchange

The Middle East’s economy is caught in the crossfire

Science & technology

When the map becomes the territory

Lab-grown models of embryos increasingly resemble the real thing

Ground truths

Could AI help find valuable mineral deposits?

Be rich in good deeds

A new gonorrhoea drug was developed by a non-profit foundation

Culture

Television

A golden age of TV is losing its shine

Artistic frenemies

A show on Manet and Degas examines creative rivalry

Surveillance, Inc.

Inside the secretive startup selling facial-recognition software

Back Story

“King Lear” and the purpose of tragedy in dark times

The defeated

Hong Kong’s year of protest now feels like a mirage

Come together

A new Beatles track is surprisingly soulful

The Economist reads

Six books you didn’t know were propaganda

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

The Economist explains

Can Hamas’s casualty figures be trusted?

The Economist explains

Why Gaza’s refugee camps are so vulnerable

Obituary

When the laughter stops